


a helping hand

by Yukari



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: M/M, apparently it takes place after p5 vanilla, i wrote it after hearing the p5s news, maybe in a few months i'll be able to laugh at it, no info p5s fic, the shuake is there only if you squint or know my preferences, this is how i cope, unexpected reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 22:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21186998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yukari/pseuds/Yukari
Summary: After being surrounded by way too many shadows to be able to deal with them on his own, Ren finds himself saved by someone he didn't expect to ever see again.





	a helping hand

**Author's Note:**

> puts this here and vanishes into the void

Separating himself from the team to act as a decoy probably wasn’t the smartest decision, but Ren made a lot of decisions in his life that weren’t entirely smart. This was just one of them. 

He hoped he’d be able to escape them, or at least find some opportunity to get an upper hand, but fighting on an unfamiliar ground, during the night and against an enemy group much larger in numbers than the shadows they usually encountered in palaces... wasn’t really going according to plan. These strange shadows seemed to be everywhere, and while choosing another empty-looking street he already felt that this wasn’t going to go well. 

So, when he ended up being surrounded, he wasn’t really surprised. At the same time he also felt a strange feeling of deja vu, as if something similar already happened before. 

_ Oh, wait. It actually did happen.  _ Except that time it was a part of the plan, and him getting caught was supposed to happen. It wasn’t exactly a good memory, to put it mildly, but what was about to happen didn’t look much better. There were far too many of them for a single person, even an experienced persona user. He was also running low on energy at this point.

In other news, he was fucked.

_ Think. Think. There has to be a way. Maybe the others can still find me.  _

He shook his head, chasing away that thought. There was no time for that, and he couldn’t rely on them when he separated from the team to lead the shadows away from it in the first place. 

This… was really bad though. He looked around frantically, looking even for a single opening that would allow him to escape, but there were none. 

There was no talking his way out of this. 

He was about to pray, to no god in particular - since he already killed one, when something unexpected happened. 

“Persona!” 

He didn’t even manage to process the thought that for some reason, the voice seemed familiar, despite not belonging to any of his teammates, before the shadows were enveloped by also awfully familiar red light that immediately painted them black. 

“Don’t mind him. Your target now is… each other,” the voice said, calm and collected… and also cold as ice. 

For a moment Ren just watched, frozen in disbelief, as the shadows pretty much ripped each other apart, not a single one touching him. 

After the initial shock passed, he began looking around, searching for the owner of that voice.  He needed to find him. He needed to make sure he wasn’t just dreaming. 

Finally, he spotted a silhouette of a person sitting on a nearby roof. 

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you, this was rather pathetic,” the person spoke up, his tone still ice-cold, with a hint of sarcasm. “You even forced me to rescue your sorry self. What happened to you, Joker?”

It was a voice he recognized, and a tone he didn’t know. It was neither the sweet lies, nor the angry insults. 

Just cold, hard truth. 

“Akechi,” Ren muttered, his own voice no louder than a whisper. Gathering enough strength, he took a step forward and tried again. “Crow? It’s you, right?” 

“Who else did you expect? Actually, don’t answer this, probably anyone would’ve been easier to expect than me. Still. Yes, I’m the one you called Crow at some point, I suppose,” Akechi replied, something bitter seeping into his words. “This wasn’t a part of my plan, but the idea of you dying here seemed even more pathetic than saving you. Now, if you excuse me, I’m leaving.” 

The boy stood up, and in the lights of the night, Ren could recognize the black and blue striped outfit he still remembered so well. Without even sparing him a look, just like he said, Akechi turned around to leave. 

“Wait, Crow!” Ren couldn’t stop himself from calling out. With just a few moves and the use of the grappling hook, he found himself on the rooftop, already chasing someone he thought was dead for much too long. 

He didn’t seem like a ghost, or a zombie, or a shadow of any sort, so the only logical conclusion was that he was a alive, right? That was enough for Ren to not want to give up.

A few rooftops and streets later, after jumping back down to the ground, he finally stopped.

“What do you want from me?” Akechi asked, giving him a glare. His expression was barely visible from under the helmet, but he certainly didn’t look pleased.

“I don’t know, maybe answers?” Ren replied. “It’s not me who suddenly came back from the dead just to save my former rival.” 

“I see,” he muttered, looking away. “Of course you’d want answers. That’s just how you are. But I don’t really have any to offer, and I don’t have anything I want to tell you. Not right now.” 

“Then when?”

“I almost forgot how irritating you could be sometimes. Don’t you think I have the right to have some questions too? What is… this?” He gestured at their surroundings. “Wasn’t the metaverse supposed to be gone? Didn’t you destroy it? Why does it look like this now?” 

The blatant accusation in his voice stung a little. It’s not like they had any explanation for this yet. 

“We did destroy it, I’m sure of that,” he said quietly. “For what’s going on now…. We’re trying to find out.” 

“I know. The fact that I won’t learn anything from you, I know too. There’s no point in this conversation. Just try not to get yourself into some shitty situation again, I won’t come to your rescue again,” Akechi replied, and the fact that his formal tone was fading little by little would’ve been funny, if not… for everything else. 

“You’ve been on the move, too. We’ve heard rumors.” 

“Oh? And rumors were enough for you to link those things to me?” 

“Can we just talk normally, Akechi?” 

“No. Your teammates are looking for you, and I have no intention of confronting them. It’s really not the right moment for this, Ren,” he said, something pleading making its way into his tone. 

“Will there ever be a right moment, or will you just disappear for good this time?” 

It took them a while to just stop staring at each other, as neither of them ready to back out. 

Ren was not going to just let him go, not again. 

“What do you expect me to do then…?” Akechi finally asked.

“You want answers, right? Then let’s look for them together. Join us.” 

“You must be kidding me… I’ve never heard anyone make a more insensitive request than this. Insensitive both towards me and your friends.” 

“I’m the leader, I can do what I want.” 

“Do they also think this way? You don't even know. That's why you’re insufferable!” 

Back to staring at each other. 

At least until they heard some commotion, not to far from where they were standing, and it really wasn’t hard to guess what was going on. Not with the voices already reaching them. 

“I found him! He seems to be alright!” Futaba yelled, probably running at the front of the group, since she was the only one who could actually sense his location. “Come on, faster!” 

“Says you! We’re just running slower because we don’t know where to go and can’t leave you behind!” Ryuji said in response. 

“I’m leaving,” Akechi just muttered, trying to turn around but Ren grabbed his hand just in time. 

He could feel the sharp metal of Akechi’s claws dig through his gloves, but he didn’t let go. 

He was not letting go, not ever again. He had too many regrets about doing it last time.

“Stay,” he said. It wasn’t an order of a leader, but more of a desperate plea. 

“Let go.” 

“Please, stay.”

“He’s very close! But… wait… he’s not alone? This signal… It’s impossible?! What’s going on?!” 

“Futaba? Is something wrong? Who is he with?” Ann’s voice asked. 

“I’m pretty damn sure this signal belongs to Akechi!” 

“What?!” 

“Akechi-kun?!” 

“But… how!?” 

“I don’t know?! Let’s hurry!” 

“You have no reason to run now. They already know you’re here,” Ren said, squeezing his hand tighter. It wasn’t very pleasant to hold, but they’d make do. 

“What am I supposed to tell them…?” Akechi asked quietly. “What am I supposed to tell you? I have no reason to stay.” 

“Help us, Goro,” he replied. “Help me.” 

Through that mask, Ren could see his expression turned unsure. Lost. Maybe a little afraid. 

“That’s not something I’m good at.” 

“You did pretty alright earlier.” 

“I just did it on a whim.” 

“More of a reason for me to believe you actually wanted to help me.” 

“I can’t stand you. You and your idiotic optimism.” 

“I think that’s a lie.” 

“Maybe. Think whatever you want, I don’t give a damn.” 

That’s what Akechi said, but he didn’t pull his hand out of Ren’s own, instead holding it back. 

They stood there together, in silence, waiting for the inevitable confrontation to happen. 

Ren didn’t know what Akechi was thinking about, but if the look on his face and the strength of his grip were anything to go by… 

Maybe this time, this wouldn't be only a temporary alliance. 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not getting my hopes up but what if :))


End file.
